Will The Real Oak Please Stand Up?
Plot Ash, Misty, and Brock are sitting in a restaurant eating hamburgers when, over the radio, DJ Mary announces that Professor Oak's radio show is beginning. In this installment of the program, Oak explains that Starmie's blinking crystal is theorized to be used to communicate with beings from outer space. He ends with a poem about Starmie, though Ash and Misty find the poem to be awful. Brock adds that people say that you have to think about Pokémon poetry for a while to truly understand the deeper meaning. Over the radio, DJ Mary announces that she and Professor Oak will be doing a live recording of the show tomorrow at 1:00 pm at the Maroon Town fairgrounds with a follow-up question-and-answer session. Brock is thrilled that Mary will be there as well and rapidly flips through his guidebook to find where Maroon Town is. It is right on the way to Blackthorn City and is only one town away. Excited, the group heads off towards Maroon Town. Meanwhile, Team Rocket are famished as they stumble their way into Maroon Town. They collapse from exhaustion when Meowth notices one of many posters on the buildings around them. Meowth explains that they are advertising a free public recording of Professor Oak's talk show, and after the taping, there is a free lunch buffet for the stars of the show. The three of them become excited and state that all they have to do is become the stars of the show. They quickly disguise themselves as DJ Mary, Professor Oak, and the "big-mouthed, overbearing producer that every show has to have". Hearing lots of talking, Nurse Joy walks over to greet the disguised Rocket trio. Joy is surprised to see the celebrity guests already in town, but James explains that they simply want to meet their loyal fans as soon as possible. Impressed, Nurse Joy escorts them over to the stage at that moment. At the stage, the three of them hungrily eat all of the food for tomorrow's luncheon. Before she goes off to get more food, Nurse Joy asks if James could answer some questions for the children. James worries about not knowing the answers, so Meowth sits behind him with many books in order to find the answers. One child asks about Farfetch'd's leek stalk, though Meowth cannot find the answer quickly enough so James says that it is a hockey stick. Amazed, the children ask him more questions. Another boy asks why Electric-type attacks do not work on Pokémon like Quagsire even though it is a Water-type. James, after getting the answer from Meowth, explains that Quagsire is also part Ground-type so electricity does not affect it. The children begin to ask many questions too quickly when a group of people carrying cameras appear in front of Jessie. Because they are the DJ Mary Fan Club, they happily welcome DJ Mary to town and ask if they can all take her picture. Team Rocket becomes caught up in all of the excitement. Later, in a hotel's hot spring, they all relax and scheme about all the other freebies that could come their way. The following morning, the real Professor Oak and DJ Mary arrive into Maroon Town. Nurse Joy says that they already came, and she shows Team Rocket, disguised as the two of them, eating at the breakfast table. The children from the day before approach the real Professor and say that they don't believe Farfetch'd carries around a hockey stick, it must carry around some sort of root. He clarifies that it is not a root or a hockey stick, but the stem from a plant. The children become angry because the Professor must be lying to them. Ash and his friends walk up to greet the Professor. Brock becomes infatuated with Mary until Misty pulls him away by the ear. Nurse Joy asks if the group can reveal who the people at the breakfast table are. Team Rocket ducks under the table to avoid the twerps' discerning eyes, but Brock is quick to pick out that this DJ Mary’s voice is odd. Jessie shakes Brock silly, and Professor Oak confronts the imposters directly. Team Rocket becomes worried about being caught, so Jessie tells James that their only shot is to play the bluff for all it is worth. Misty then suggests a contest in order to prove which Professor is real. Professor Oak is quick to agree to the idea, and James is pushed into accepting the contest's terms. A disguised Jessie and DJ Mary welcome everyone to the live recording of the radio show, a contest to determine the real Professor Oak. The contest will consist of three questions. The first Professor to answer two of the three correctly will be deemed the winner. Nurse Joy begins reading the first question, "What is the evolved form of Slowpoke that-" when Professor A, the real Professor Oak, says that the correct answer is Slowbro. Although this is correct, there was more to the question. The rest of the question asks what the name of the attack that Slowpoke learns upon reaching level 46. James, disguised as Professor B, does not have a clue; upon the buzzer, he says that he has Amnesia. Amnesia, luckily, is the correct answer and earns him the first point. The second question consists of a silhouette that must be identified. James thinks it is the hand of a Sudowoodo while Professor Oak believes it is an Aipom's tail, which is the correct answer. Worried about losing, Meowth comes onstage dressed as the producer and suggest that the last question should be a poetry contest. Concerned, Jessie confronts James who then explains that he was the champion stand-up poet in grade-school for three years and even won the Golden Tongue Award. DJ Mary says they need a theme when, from under Meowth's coat, something says Wobbuffet. Everyone agrees and James begins with his poem. Professor A, the real Oak, recites his own poem, but it leaves the audience confused. Nurse Joy is left to deliberate and declares that contestant A is the real Professor Oak. She then explains that James's poem had no understanding of Pokémon poetry, which she knows because she is a fifth level master of Pokémon poetry. Joy explains that all of Professor Oak's poems have one thing in common, the power to reassure and relax people. Joy then states that James is the fake Oak and an amateur at Pokémon poetry when Wobbuffet falls out from under Meowth's coat. Upon being found out, Team Rocket remove their disguises before performing their motto. James uses Weezing's Smokescreen to aid their escape in their balloon, along with all the catered lunch. Ash begins to send out one of his Pokémon when Professor Oak sends out a Pidgey that he caught along the way. Pidgey uses Quick Attack to cut the rope carrying the stolen loot. Unsuspecting of Pidgey's power, Team Rocket is blown away by its Gust attack. After Pidgey comes back, the children from before run up to Professor Oak and apologize for believing he was fake. He does not mind and only wants to talk about Pokémon with the children. Later, hanging from a limb on the side of a cliff, Team Rocket yells for help. James thinks of another poem before the branch finally snaps and sends them plummeting towards the ground. Major Events * Professor Oak is revealed to have caught a Pidgey.